Ethereum price analysis: ETH/USD is back above $200; expert forecasts that ETH will take the chunk of Bitcoin's market share

Ethereum, the second largest coin by market value, is back about $200 handle, trading with 6.6% gains on a daily basis and 1.8% higher since the beginning of Wednesday. The coin has been very volatile lately due to overall cryptocurrency market momentum and internal forces that influence the price dynamics. Ethereum's volatility spiked on Tuesday amid altcoins rise and remained elevated for the rest of the day. 

The coin that supports the ethereum network, also known as the "world's computer "has a market value of $21.6B and the average daily trading volumes $1.7B, which is roughly in line with the mid-term average.

While ETH is still 71% lower since the beginning of 2018, Ian McLeod, the analyst for Thomas Crown Art, believes that the coin has bottomed, pointing out the growing use cases for Ethereum-based smart contracts.

“Not only do we think it will rebound considerably before the end of 2018, I believe that over the long time it will significantly dent bitcoin’s dominance. In fact, I think we can expect bitcoin to lose 50 percent of its cryptocurrency market share to ethereum, its nearest rival, within five years,” he said in the interview with MarketWatch.

It is worth noting that currently, Ethereum's share of the cryptocurrency market is about 10%, while upcoming protocol updates, regulatory uncertainty and a lot of scam projects based on Ethereum ecosystem discourage investors from making positive bets on it.

Ethereum's technical picture

A sustainable movement above $200 opens up the way towards the recent peak at $230. This area stopped the recovery on September 15. Once it is cleared, the upside may be extended towards $250. The support is created by $200 with SMA50 and SMA200 (1-hour) on approach. Considering that the price has been moving to and fro around this level, it won't be too difficult to clear it once the bearish sentiments set in.

ETH/USD, 1-hour chart